Curse You
by Luinramwen
Summary: It was supposed to make things easier, sending the ninja and the wizard off for the groceries. But nothing’s ever easy, and the encounter with the witch and the resulting curse was anything but... T for safety's sake...
1. The Shop

**Curse You**

-Summary- It was supposed to make things easier, sending the ninja and the wizard off for the groceries. But nothing's ever easy, and the encounter with the witch and the resulting curse was anything but….

A/N - I wasn't going to post this (self-doubt and uncertainty about how to finish it), but my friend and fellow fanfic writer/ TRC addict Erenriel insisted. This was originally meant to be my first TRC fic posted. HAHAHAHA!

Set in Oto, firstly because that was as far as I'd read when I started writing this (My, my, that _was_ a long time ago…), and secondly because the virtual reality thing works so well with this that it's not even funny. Flashbacks and memories abound, so some spoilers for a LOT later on in the series. Although I did have to make up some stuff. Please, don't hurt me. I promise I'll point it out when I get to it, to distinguish it from the spoilers. The fic kind of weaves along the Oto arc like a drunkard, some events coinciding, others… well… Anyways! This all started from an idle discussion of what might possibly happen if Fai and Kurogane suddenly started acting exactly like the other; if, for instance, Yuko decided it would be amusing to curse them. Let's just say it's been quite the journey, and somehow veered into angst-ridden confusion as well as hopefully still some humour.

As for pairings… let's see. There is definitely some K/T in here (FINALLY. Are you happy, Mystic Dawn?), mostly hinted at so far, but I'm planning to have fun here. And of course there is S/S, because it's just cute. And… there is some Fai/Freya/somewhat Chii in here too. Because it really IS cute. And no, she is not an OC, I do not like OC's, go read Chobits. There are NO OC's. The little witch may seem like one, but ohhhh, she is nooooot…

Once again, **no K/F**. If this disappoints you, because for some completely bizarre reason you have not had your proper daily dosage of K/F fics, simply return to the main Tsubasa page and pick a fic at random. I do not force people to read my work. (hides the gun)

Disclaimer - don't own, wish I did, blah blah blah blah blah…. end of story. I hate my life. (cries)

-

**Ch. 1 - The Shop**

Kurogane was getting angry.

The damn magician had run off again, whether to chat amiably with some shopkeeper or be distracted by something useless and probably childish, Kurogane no longer knew or particularly cared. The point was that Fai had once again disappeared, leaving the ninja to balance all the bags that said magician needed to run his little toy of a café. The point _was_, Kurogane once again was forced to baby-sit someone twice the age, almost, of the ones he would have expected to need baby-sitting - and it wasn't like Kurogane even particularly _liked_ children.

Except maybe well roasted.

"Kuro-rin!"

All of a sudden, Fai was in front of him, albeit still several metres across the cobblestones, beaming happily and waving. "Kyaaa! I found you! Where in the world did you get yourself off to? I thought you were lost!"

"_Me_, lost -?" If there hadn't been large bags weighing down his arms, he would have thrown something at the mage in pure exasperation.

Fai weaved his way through the others out walking the streets of Oto on this bright, clear day, grabbed the sleeve of the ninja's hakama and started to pull him along. "It's just as well you got lost, though. I found something that you should really see!"

"Let go." Kurogane tried to yank his sleeve away, but the wizard had a good grip and refused to relinquish it. He turned and smiled brightly at the ninja.

"But you'll get lost again, and Syaoran-kun and Sakura-chan and Mokona would be so sad if I lost you! Come on, I want you to see this, Big Puppy."

"Why? It's going to be pointless again, I just know it. Let go. And don't call me that."

"Sorry, Big Puppy!" Fai said sweetly and completely insincerely. The mage looked weak, but even with the ankle injured the previous night in a fight with the oni he was setting a good pace. "Come on, hurry up!"

"What's the rush?" grumbled Kurogane, resigning himself to being dragged along once more by the annoying wizard. He'd eat nails before he admitted that he was almost out of breath.

Fai stopped abruptly; Kurogane, with his load of bags of food weighing him down, almost didn't manage to stop in time. "We're here."

Kurogane stared at the little, dusty building sandwiched between two much larger shops. The front was brick, and had been vandalized with faded, painted graffiti many time. The glass in the windows was etched with cracks like a spider's web. It looked run-down and long since abandoned, but perhaps it was not; a sign in the window proclaimed, "This Establishment is Open for Business (closed after noon)".

"That… thing?"

"Yes."

"A shop."

"Yes." Fai smiled engagingly.

"All right, I've seen it. Let's go." Kurogane turned abruptly and began to stalk off.

"No! You need to come inside!" Fai latched on to his arm again and yanked hard.

"No way. You asked me to come see it. I saw it. I ain't going inside. You've probably got some goddamn trick planned, and I'm not falling for it. Besides, I told the brat I'd teach him how to use that sword of his today before he cuts off something important. Let go."

"Kuro-rin, you're so meeeaaan!" wailed Fai. "Pleeeaaaase? I promise I'm not planning any tricks. I promise!"

The ninja tried to escape, but failed. He looked shiftily around. People were starting to stare. Wait, only _starting _to stare? That man over there watching this scene had a goddamn umbrella, a lounge chair, and a large drink. There had better be some sort of café over there, was Kurogane's grim inward opinion. Or the mage _really_ gets - ah, yes, that was a café over there. OK. Fai would still get it, but there was a chance he'd let him live.

"Please?"

Goddamn it, why did he have to start with the stupid big, shimmering eyes? He looked like he was going to cry, and if there was one thing Kurogane hated more than Fai, it was tears, stupid, pointless tears. The combination of the two was grating. What an _idiot. _Hadn't he ever grown up?

"All right, all _right_, don't make a scene," growled Kurogane, hating himself for giving in like this. But as embarrassing as that was, Fai's fake tears were even worse.

It was dark in the shop, a shock after the bright light in the street. The sunlight slanting in through the narrow window in the front merely served to illuminate the dust dancing in the air. The place was like a cave; something about its walls seemed not quite right; you could not tell exactly how far away they were. They seemed both close, as the tiny façade had suggested, and immensely far away. If it was possible, he seemed to sense it as a large space tucked into a very small area.

It was empty but for them and the merchandise, an odd, mismatched jumble of colours and smells and strangeness. There was a lot; Kurogane picked out only a few things as they caught his eyes. A crystal sculpture of a dragon that seemed to contain more power than skill. A tall, impressively gilt-framed mirror that seemed to bend the light in a strange way, as though revealing a fourth dimension beyond the usual three. A scratched, scruffy looking trunk that did not seem to quite touch the floor; in the shadows beneath it, the light caught and momentarily revealed something that looked like a myriad of little feet. A junky-looking broomstick in a display case with a sign that read, "Fore Sayle: CHEAPE!". A dagger with a streak of blue up its centre. A bracelet of red and white beads that looked to be made of bone. A silvery, slithery looking cloak, a string of pale blue prayer beads, a shining yellow, completely spherical, faceted gem of enormous size, a thick, heavy-looking golden ring with an ineffable air of menace… Herbs and other things less pleasant hung from the ceiling, lending the air the musty odour of the outdoors kept in for too long. Kurogane shivered. He was no wizard, but even he could feel the magic that seeped into the air from this strange merchandise. He did not need to ask twice what this place was.

"It's a witch's shop," he said flatly.

"Very good, Kuro-chan!" Fai said cheerfully from the other side of the room, where he was going absently through a box of shining, glowing spheres that absolutely reeked of magic.

"It reminds me of the Dimensional Bitch. Let's get out of here."

"Oh, where's your sense of adventure?" Fai looked up with a sly smile.

"May I help you find what you're not looking for?" came a woman's voice from directly behind Kurogane.

The ninja whirled around, far more startled than he cared to admit. He hadn't even heard her come in.

"Who the hell are you?" he demanded.

She smiled up at him secretively, a petite figure small enough to even make Fai feel oversized, with a pale, rounded, enigmatic face and pupil-less grey eyes. She wore something like black robes, only layered in petal-like formation until it seemed as though she were clothed in butterfly wings sweeping down to enfold her. "This is my shop."

"We were merely browsing," Fai called from the other side of the room, pulling himself from the perusal of a thick, yellowing, leather-bound tome. "I hope that's all right?"

"Very much so," said the woman - the little witch. "All who enter this shop do so for a purpose. You would not have found this shop if I had not wanted you to."

"What's to find? It's just a shop." Kurogane looked suspiciously at the little witch.

"Ah." She smiled, a mysterious little smile. "Perhaps it is… and perhaps it is not."

"Oh, do tell!" Fai said encouragingly, taking himself away from the merchandise long enough to cross the room to join the ninja and the little witch.

"Very well, I shall." She settled gracefully down on top of a dusty crate. "This is the shop of that which must be given freely. Every item in this shop must be passed on with full willingness, and knowledge of what it is you are parting with. Nothing in here can be sold, though there is a price for every object. You might call it barter; that would not be entirely accurate, however. It goes where it is needed, not where it is wanted. I suppose, in layman's terms, it would be called… The Gift Shop."

"Gifts! How lovely!" said Fai cheerily.

"Eh?" said Kurogane, feeling a little bewildered and more than a little annoyed by all this mystery surrounding something that seemed quite ordinary enough. So why were both Fai and the witch acting like there was something more behind her confusing, but still mundane words?

"Yes," agreed the little witch. "And there is something you need… or you would not have come here."

"Hey, lady, we're not looking for anything, we don't need anything, and we don't _want_ anything except to get out of here and get the rest of the damn groceries. I don't know about the wizard, but I'm leaving." The ninja turned and stalked towards the door.

"You cannot," the witch said calmly. "Not until you have received what you have come for."

"I didn't come for anything!" snapped the ninja, shoving at the door.

It refused to budge.

Kurogane shoved again, twisted the doorknob, all to no avail. The door simply would not open.

"You found my shop. That alone speaks out to say that while you may not be looking for what you need, there is something you might use nevertheless."

Kurogane gave up on the door and turned on the little witch. "I told you, we didn't come for anything! With you crazy magic people, there's always a price to be paid for whatever we get from any of you, and I'm sick of giving up my stuff! I won't give up any more. So let me the hell out of here!"

Fai watched the ninja fume and glower for a moment, then turned the little witch, a tiny trace of an amused, watchful smile on his lips. "What is it that we've come for?"

"That is the right question to ask… but it's something you must discover for yourself," said the witch quietly. "Will you accept what the Gift Shop might give you? As a gift… from me. Of no charge, because you're _very_ pretty, and you come with a funny ninja." She smiled charmingly, almost mischievously.

"Eh!" Kurogane did a double-take. "_Funny_? Funny!…."

Fai blinked at that for a few seconds, then grew thoughtful… then grinned. "I don't see why not."

"Are you nuts?" yelped Kurogane.

"Very well," agreed the witch with an answering smile. "I only need to be touching one of you for this to work. Sir Mage?" she asked.

The wizard hesitated momentarily, then stepped forward. She touched a single finger to his forehead -

-

Fai opened his eyes to find himself lying flat on the pavement, staring up at the clear blue sky of Oto, feeling far too heavy to move. It took him a moment to place himself; it was high noon, but the lack of a pounding headache suggested that he wasn't suffering from the hangover of the century. Nothing missing, nothing broken, no blood - so there hadn't been a battle, nor had he been mugged. What had -? Oh, yes, the little magic shop. The little witch who had seemed to enjoy teasing the ninja almost as much as he did. He'd rather liked her. And then there was the gift -

Ah. That was it. She had used some sort of magic on him… them? - and now…

Maybe accepting the witch's gift hadn't been so bright after all?

But he hadn't sensed anything sinister or wrong about her, or about the shop, and he was generally fairly good at judging that kind of thing about a person. Usually… but one could always make mistakes. He'd done it before.

The magician struggled to sit up, and stared around him. He was in the middle of an alleyway; looking out into the street, he thought he recognized the area framed by the mouth of the alley as the view out the witch's dusty windows. There was the busy street, the lounging man out in front of the café opposite; he looked like he'd barely moved. The groceries he had promised Sakura that he and the Big Puppy would get were scattered around him. He could only hope that none of the delicate foods like the eggs were broken.

He got to his feet, stretched, and only then realized that the ninja was nowhere in sight.

"Kuro-tan?" he asked the empty alley. Something seemed weird about his voice - but of course, that was ridiculous. It was his voice, he'd used it only moments ago; why should it sound any weirder than normal? "Kuro-rin, where did you go?"

"Damn!" swore another voice, from somewhere in the shadows to his right. It… wasn't Kurogane's voice. It sounded very, very familiar, but it was not Kurogane's voice. It was his tone - angry, a little sullen, dark and at the moment perplexed - but it was too light, too airy, too… teasing. Fai felt a prickle of unease run down his spine. He knew that voice.

"What the hell did you do, you bastard? That was really weird. What the -" The voice cut itself off abruptly, then said again, very strangely, "What the _hell?_"

Fai turned, about to start off into some reassuring nonsense about whatever had happened - as much for his own benefit as the ninja's, to be honest, as the whole thing was starting to worry him a little too - and what he was going to say died in his throat. He felt his eyes widen in shock.

"I had better have been hit _really_ hard upside the head," said the other grimly, pale face looking almost ill, "Or I'm going to hunt that crazy witch down and _murder_ her."

"Wow," said Fai at last. "I guess she really was for real." It was definitely not the most clever remark he could have made, but at the moment shock took precedence over witty repartee. It was… it was…

Well, for starters, he couldn't make himself look at Kurogane for very long.

It was just too odd to look at someone else and see another person's expression on your own face.

Or maybe it wasn't really his, not any more.

He tried not to look at himself but was far too aware that his skin was much darker than normal. It was dizzying. Fai had been in a mirror-maze once, in his home world; it had been a protective device on the floor above the equally maze-like dungeons. He'd looked up once, startled, to see the face of the man following him along its twisting path as though it was standing beside him.

This was exactly like that, only the images had been superimposed… and now it was real.

"I think I'm gonna be sick," Kurogane said numbly, fair face furrowed in a scowl. "This. Is. So. _Wrong_!"

Fai had to agree. But silently, because a strong nagging bit of him that he had never noticed before was telling him that agreeing with the damn magician was the equivalent of admitting he'd completely and utterly cracked.

That wasn't him, he realized. That was Kurogane. And then he started to think about it… and yes. This was not good at all.

He forced himself to smile sunnily, and said brightly, "I guess next time I'll know better, huh, Kuro-chii?"

"This is all your fault!" Kurogane snarled. Fai saw his hands starting to twitch as though longing to strangle him. "You should be able to reverse this! You're a damn magician, aren't you? So, act like one! Fix your mistake -"

"I can't," Fai said calmly, easily.

"Why not!"

"Well, for one -" Fai began ticking the reasons off. "You're in my body, and that's kind of the anchor for my magic. For two, this is not my magic and I doubt that even if I was in my own body that I could reverse a spell that I don't know anything about. For three, if I _was_ in my own body this would not be an issue. _But_, even if I was…" He smiled a self-deprecating smile and shrugged sheepishly. "I've already decided that I'm not going to use magic."

"_I could kill you -_"

"Oh, calm down, Kuro-muu, you don't want to hurt yourself now, do you?" Fai chuckled in spite of the situation.

"You bast -" began Kurogane, then frowned deeply and gave Fai a very strange look. "Stop smiling - you're creeping me out!"

Fai blinked, then smiled even more broadly, this time even more amused than before. Yes, it probably _would_ look pretty creepy to see the sulky ninja smiling his own brilliant smile. The mental picture made Fai want to giggle… but he resisted. Chuckling was permittable, if weird. But _giggling_ while inhabiting Kurogane's body… would likely get him murdered. "I'll stop smiling if you stop glaring," he said in a light teasing voice as close to his own as he could make it. He saw himself flinch, and smirked.

"What's so funny?"

"Oh, nothing…" Fai looked around. "Eh? You have paper stuck to you, Kuro-chan." He reached out.

"Don't touch me!"

Fai grabbed it off his shoulder anyways. "Hmmm…" His eyebrows went up as he read it; it did not immediately occur to him how strange it was that he should be able to read something written in a language that he was pretty sure he hadn't known how to read before. "Listen to this, Puppy-chan."

_Congratulations!_ read the elaborate curly script. _You are the proud/angry new recipient(s) of one (1) Deluxe Body-Switch Curse (item #6T1 49Q007). Your Deluxe Body-Switch Curse (item #6T1 49Q007) is scheduled to last three (3) days, except in cases of negating circumstances. The Gift Shop thanks you for your business._

Under this, in tiny, difficult to read print, was the following:

_Negating circumstances include the following: Using magic other than the magic of item #6T1 49Q007 to reverse the effects of item #6T1 49Q007, the sudden termination of any/all bodies under the influence of item #6T1 49Q007, revealing to any person NOT under the influence of item #6T1 49Q007 that one _is _under the influence of item #6T1 49Q007 by means of hints, clues, erratic behaviour or vocal communication, or driving under the influence of item #6T1 49Q007. Please take note that if any of the aforesaid conditions occur, item #6T1 49Q007 will become permanent and irreversible. Thank you and good day. And… good luck. You'll need it._

"…Damn," said Kurogane finally. And there was, really, nothing else that could be said.

-


	2. One Angry Wizard, One Happy Ninja

**Curse You**

A/N - You have Erenriel to thank for constantly pestering me to update Curse You instead of getting side-tracked by random drabbles/one-shots that temporarily fascinate me. Like Night, and stuff like that... I'm sorry, sometimes I'm too much like a child. I get distracted by shiny new ideas the way some people can be distracted by butterflies and shiny rocks. OMG, look, shiny fire!

... Wait, that's me too. Damn...

Disclaimer - don't own, not even pretending to.

-

**Chapter 2 - One Angry Wizard, One Happy Ninja**

"Just what the hell is this supposed to mean? 'Good luck. You'll need it' ?" Kurogane sat there staring at the piece of paper, as though trying to find a secret message encoded in its lines.

Chances were that he was not having any luck; Fai had read it through several times himself and was currently leaning against the alley wall, trying to come to grips with their new, extremely awkward situation. It did not help that the little Kurogane-bit that he had noticed before was very indignantly protesting Fai's right to think using the ninja's brain. It had been barely five minutes since their initial awareness of the switching-curse.

"You mean no one's ever wished you good luck before? Poor Kuro-chii! Doesn't that ever bother you? Doesn't anyone like you?" Fai asked distantly, innocently, in a falsely-sympathetic voice, automatically calculating exactly what to do to piss the other off. On the top of his mind he was quite enjoying this opportunity of getting to watch Kurogane's reaction to "himself" acting like Fai - and quietly boiling in the knowledge that he was not able to pull a sword on him as he cursed his fear of the effects of 'the sudden termination of any/all bodies under the influence of item #6T1 49Q007.' And, of course, it didn't hurt that Kurogane's sword was currently hanging from the wrong belt. Or the right one, if you wanted to look at it the other way. Or the wrong belt on the right person. Or the right belt on the wrong person. Or - Fai shook himself inwardly. He'd just managed to make his head start hurting. Maybe it was better not to think too long about how to actually think about this situation.

"Shut up!" the ninja snarled. "I didn't mean it like that. I meant, why 'you'll need it'."

"Well, she was a witch," Fai said with a deliberately careless shrug. "Who knows what they know? She may have seen something happening."

"Like what?" Kurogane seemed to be attempting to restrain himself from shaking 'himself'. "Like the 'negating circumstances'? Just what the hell were all those about, anyways?"

"Hmmm... yes, that's rather inconvenient, but nothing that I think we can't deal with if the situation arises," Fai said matter-of-factly, knowing that this too would rub Kurogane the wrong way. It did.

"_Deal_ with!" Kurogane appeared to be on the edge of snapping. "I'm stuck in your stupid, scrawny, useless mage-body for _three whole days_! You can't even use your magic to reverse it, we can't explain why you're acting like me, and vice versa, to the brats, and you think it's no big deal!"

"You... acting... like me..." Fai went still and thoughtful, face sobering, eyes growing distant. A small, rather sly smile began to play about his lips. Kurogane felt his insides start to go cold. He had a very bad feeling about where this was going.

"No. Way!"

The gleam in the mage's crimson eyes was now much more appropriate to the body he was - hopefully temporarily - inhabiting. It was positively evil. "Oh, come now, Kuro-pipi. You have to admit that it's the obvious solution, and on par with my typical genius of simplicity, hmmm? After all, if you don't want to be _stuck_ with my 'stupid, scrawny, useless mage-body' for the rest of your life, then the only thing to do is -"

"I have a better idea." Kurogane snapped, turning abruptly away. "Let's go back into that shop and _make_ the witch take it back!"

Fai did not answer at first, knowing how badly the ninja would respond to something like the observation he had made upon coming back from unconsciousness. As amusing as it was to watch Kurogane explode, Fai did not want to watch the rage burning in his own eyes any longer. It sent ice creeping slowly up his veins, freezing all the tissues about them as it went. "I'm afraid that's probably not possible," he said at last, very quietly. He did not attempt to smile. It would have cracked in half anyways.

"Of course it's possible!"

"Well... no... you see..." Fai glanced at the other and then quickly away. "I don't know if you noticed it, but even though we woke up lying in the alleyway, we actually hadn't moved anywhere at all."

"That doesn't make sense."

"The shop moved. We didn't."

Kurogane stared, fair brow furrowing as he let it sink in.

"That blasted witch moved the shop with magic and just abandoned us here!"

"Pretty much." Fai cracked a grin. "I guess she's probably moved on to someone, somewhere else, in need of one of her little 'presents'. I think she's gone. I don't suppose you sense any of her magic around here any more?"

"I -" Kurogane blinked. "What?"

"You're the one in my -" Fai cut himself off abruptly, realizing exactly what he'd been saying.

_Oops._

"You can sense magic?" Kurogane stared.

"Er... in a manner of speaking." Fai smiled brightly, then bent and began hefting groceries with Kurogane's well-muscled arms. It was astonishing, and pretty interesting, when you thought about it. Doing this. Which allowed a sneaking, uneasy little thought to slip into his head. Things that Kuro-wan could do, that he, Fai, was normally incapable of - or at least a lot less efficient about doing - could Fai now do them, too?

For instance, could the wizard find a way to swing the sword Kurogane always carried? Would physical memories just take over, shunt aside the power controlling the brain, and the body's years of training step in? How far of a step was it from hefting groceries with muscles that Fai had never dreamt of having to using the body-memory locked within them? And how far of a step was it from _that_ to - ?

_Uh-oh._

He could not help but shiver; this thought was even more uneasy than the one before, which had not been a comfortable thought, either.

If it _was_ possible for Fai to have access to all the skills that Kurogane currently possessed through physical memory, then it was only a very, very small step to being able to access the memories of the mind _connected_ to learning those skills, which should in theory give him access to _all_ of the ninja's memories.

It was like knowing that the other had kept a very secret diary for many long years, and having pestered and pestered the ninja to let him read a little bit, just a paragraph - and then walking into a room one day to find that he'd left it wide open on the table, in broad view for anyone with an ounce of curiousity to read. And Fai, admittedly, had more curiousity than was good for him. It was part of the reason he was the person he was.

He knew it was wrong - if it was possible, of course, always taking that into account - and he knew that if he started, the ninja would lose all his most closely kept secrets, and there would be nothing left that Fai wouldn't know about him, and while that thought was almost enjoyable (_think of all the blackmail material I'd have!)_, there was also this. Fai knew that a person's private memories were utterly sacrosanct - no one should be able to touch them. Not anyone. There were things lurking in everyone's subconscious that it was best not to know about, things best left buried, and not spoken of. Didn't he know that?

But still.

_Still._

How could one possibly resist such enormous temptation...?

But -

But... if it _was_ possible for Fai to have access to all of Kurogane's inner thoughts and memories... didn't that imply that it was _also_ possible for Kurogane to have access to every last memory of Fai's?

Fai set off at a quick march, and Kurogane had to run to keep up.

No. No. Three days wasn't enough time to learn anything like that. Three days was barely enough time to become used to the idea, let alone rummage through the other's mind like a cluttered, locked storehouse at last come to light. And why would Kurogane even want to?

And maybe Kurogane wouldn't even realize the possibilities? Fai could not help but think hopefully of that. Yes. Kurogane was not one to think of such a dishonourable thing as this. Kurogane was a strongly principled man, if nothing else, and Fai should respect that and stay out of Kurogane's mind as much as he hoped that Kurogane would stay out of his. The ninja would probably spend the next three days sulking, anyhow. He was a constant thundercloud.

_That's a mask, too._

_What?_

Fai could not completely predict his own thoughts any more; that one had flashed into his head before he'd even been aware of it to push it out. It was right, too... locked inside the ninja's skull as he was, it was true that he could see that the other's taciturn and sullen silence was just as much a mask for the thoughts and memories that lay beyond as Fai could privately admit that his own smile was... and at least as effective. Had he honestly thought to try looking beyond the snarl and the gloom before? Could he honestly predict what Kurogane knew, but would never say, guessed, but never told? Could he even predict what the ninja would do if a situation suddenly turned deadly serious?

He couldn't say.

He didn't really know Kurogane well enough to fake being him. That was the hard truth. True, the kids probably didn't know him well enough to know the difference, either, but if Fai was one thing, he was a perfectionist - not getting something right frustrated and depressed him to no end. Not acting this part right as he'd acted so many other parts in his time grated across his very being. And what if he tripped up? What if he made a very obvious mistake?

Fai knew he was skipping around the obvious solution.

It wasn't a comfortable solution by any means. Far from it, in fact. After such a long time hiding everything behind a smile, the mere thought repulsed Fai like the wrong end of a magnet.

To let Kurogane know that the best way to make this work was to go as deeply into the other's head as was possible, to search out and discover the things that made each the way they were, was entirely against Fai's principles.

But that was probably taking the worst view of things. It wouldn't hurt, would it, to just let things go a little bit for now...

Right?

-

The bell over the front door jangled loudly, and Sakura looked up from setting the tables to see her older friends walk in, loaded down with supplies. Or, at least, Kurogane was loaded down. Fai carried only a small bag filled with what looked like different types of bread.

"Fai-san! Kurogane-san!" Sakura smiled, brushed her hands off on her apron, and went over to them, taking some of the bags from the weighed-down ninja. "Is everything all right? Did you find everything we needed? You were gone so long; it's late in the afternoon. Syaoran-kun was getting anxious. He was thinking about going out to look for you. Nothing happened, did it?" She set the bags down on a table after uttering that thought and turned back to face the two, green eyes anxious.

"Nah... nothing happened," "Kurogane" said off-handedly, disappearing into the kitchen to drop off the rest of his burden. Sakura looked hopefully at "Fai" for explanation, then frowned in confusion as the mage only muttered something unintelligably, dropped his load unceremoniously on the table with the other things, and stalked off upstairs.

Sakura stared. Something wasn't right; Fai never acted like this.

Footsteps behind her as Kurogane came back out of the kitchen. Without turning around, eyes still fixed worriedly on the stairs, Sakura said, "Kurogane-san... what's wrong with Fai-san?"

"Oh... that." "Kurogane" said shortly, taking more of the bags in his arms.

"What is it?"

"Kurogane" turned in the door of the kitchen and blurted the first thing that came into his mind. "That guy just saw someone he knew from his world, that's all. Not the same person - I guess it surprised him."

It was only after it was out that he realized he'd given away the one true reason he'd come back from somewhere and not at least try to smile at Sakura.

"What's wrong with Fai-san?"

It was Syaoran's voice this time, puzzled and a little worried as he entered the room from the stairwell. "I just saw him in the hallway, and I think he... _glared_ at me. Is he all right?"

"I don't know what's going on in that bastard's head! Why are you asking me!" "Kurogane" snapped without thinking. He saw Sakura's eyes widen momentarily as Syaoran flinched slightly, and felt horribly guilty; and then they slid back to something like relief. He could read that innocent face like a book; she was relieved that at least he was acting normally.

"Are we still opening the cafe tonight, then?" Syaoran said at last.-

Fai caught himself before off-handedly remarking, _Of course we are. You two go set the tables while I whip up something in the kitchen._ That would have been disasterous. Instead, he - "Kurogane" - said, "Go ask the damn wizard."

"All right, I will," Sakura said, pattering off towards the stairs. Fai winced inwardly, hoping he hadn't set her up to get her head bitten off. He couldn't even begin to imagine what she would think of that. Probably assume that "Fai-san" was horribly, horribly ill and go about trying to make him drink tea and sending Syaoran out after medicine and then force him to go to bed early. Actually, that would almost be worth it to watch Sakura fussing like that over Kurogane...

"Kurogane-san... are we going out again tonight, then?" Syaoran asked as the little princess disappeared out of sight. His eyes gleamed.

Fai could have smacked himself. _Gah! Oni-hunting! Sword lessons!_ He'd nearly forgotten. _I don't know how to use a sword and I've never touched one in my life and I always thought that all you needed to know about swords was that you held on to the blunt end and stuck the pointy end in the other guy! _

"I don't think so, kid," he said finally. "Not everyone's as gung-ho as you. It won't kill you to take a break for one night, will it? We got plenty of money from all the oni we've killed before." He _grouched _it. If it wasn't for the fact that Syaoran was now flushing and glancing at the ground as though slightly shamed, he would be enjoying himself in this role, he thought. Fai had never had a chance to play a character like Kurogane before. It was... kind of fun.

"R- right..." muttered Syaoran. "Sorry..."

Fai felt a little guilty, but still more than a little pleased, as well. It wasn't, actually, all that hard to pretend to be Kurogane. Maybe he'd been exaggerating the situation to himself a little. Just remember that the other man was 'that bastard', 'the skinny guy', 'that damn mage', or if he was feeling really, really pleasant towards everyone - unlikely - "that guy". And snarl and be surly, and he had it made...

It was just as well that Syaoran's attention had been caught by Sakura coming back down the stairs, saying that "Fai-san" wasn't feeling all that well right now, but that he would be down in a few minutes and would they please open the cafe for him, because Fai suddenly felt his furrowed brow and terrifying glare melt into a softer expression, almost akin to sadness.

Was that it? Was that all there was to the ninja? A bad-tempered, observant, hard-headed, cold-hearted... nothingness?

It couldn't be, Fai decided. No one was that easy to figure out. If there was one thing he'd learned in this life, it was that people were almost always more complex than they let on. That thought sparked another twinge of sadness, but he ignored it. He'd even prove it, he decided. He'd prove the Big Puppy was only human.

Fai could hardly hold back a grin.

A challenge!


End file.
